TWO SNAILS (plus a dog and a dragon)

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Brunhilde's last journey

Originally I was averse to the idea of a motorhome. It seemed a silly thing, a frivolous thing and not at all my style. Not to mention that fact that I love my island home and had no wish to leave it. I even hate going to the big island to get the shopping in...

When Mr L came home with Brunhilde, an ageing Tabbert FB 660, I felt no more enthused. After my first weekend away on Orkney I was keen to go off on a second one. Then followed longer trips to the North of Scotland. I soon became very fond of the old girl.

I shall miss her.

Brunhilde did well for us on her final run:

  • 17th March, overnight at the Ring 'o Brodgar before leaving on the early ferry to Scrabster on the 18th.
  • second night at Dornoch Beach
  • the third night we spent on a site at Blair Drummond
  • then wilded again at the Bowlees Visitor Centre in Teesdale. On the way we stopped for a break at Lambley Viaduct. with half an intention of cutting our day short and simply staying there overnight.
  • rather less wild the following night, when we parked Brunhilde on my brother-in-law's drive before
  • the long drive down to Gloucester, where we stayed at the Briarfields caravan site
  

It was a long trip but she held up beautifully. There was some worry about the exhaust mounts when we saw that the exhaust was sagging. A side trip in to Carlisle and a quick look around B&Q found us a temporary solution and ensured that the old girl got to her destination. Cable wraps - you cannot beat 'em!

I missed getting a photo of Bruni alongside the new RV. If only I had captured that we could see just how much of a step up it is. Not in all ways, though. Bruni might be narrower, less long and less tall than the new snailshell, she may be less roomy inside but by golly she had a trick or two up her sleeve. Tardis-like she managed to store so much stuff that we barely fitted it in to the new van, skirt lockers and all. She was also warm and cosy.

We did, clearly, decide to buy the new one. The vendor gave us a small PX on Bruni - £3,000. She cost us a little over £5,000 under two years ago, so perhaps we might have done better. He wasn't saddled with her however, she has already been sold and is on eBay at a princely £8,995! The description is so good it makes me wonder why we ever parted with her. Clearly she was a little gem and I do hope that she ends up in a good home with a family who will love her.

Great as Bruni was, we certainly shall not miss the palaver of getting in and out of that French Bed, nor the way that the bed sagged to one side and we never had a decent night's sleep.

Topic: The Snails' Shell

Categories: Bruni on Location, Choosing Our Home, Trips

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Home again, or home from home

We took off in Brunhilde to see an RV in Gloucestershire, having already paid our deposit in the expectation of liking the van and ultimately buying it. The vendor had other models that we could transfer the deposit to but Mr Snail felt that this would be the one.

We left home on Thursday evening, the 17th of March, planning to take a week over the trip to Gloucestershire and stopping on the way to visit family. We had an appointment with the vendor on the morning of the 23rd. 

The dealer's normal turnaround period is ten days but he indicated as the vehicle already had a lengthy MOT certificate, he could shorten this to "a couple of days". We outlined a plan that involved visiting a friend in Newbury before returning to collect the van, do the swap and then spend a few nights fairly locally in case any bugs emerged. After that we would tour the coast of Wales before heading home again to start work on 11th April. Should things go well we planned to spend a couple of nights in the Forest of Dean.

In the event, we had the van the day after we viewed it, the friend in Newbury had to cancel, and all plans were revamped. Details all to follow.

Categories: Choosing Our Home, Full-timing

Tags: rv

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A word or several on choosing our new home

I wrote this a few weeks and did not get around to posting it.

What are we looking for in our new home?

Essential:

  • From a non-smoking family
Basic requirements:
  • Ideally under 9 metres in length as some sites restrict pitches to vehicles of no more than 9 metres
  • Non-HGV
  • Dual fuel with LPG
  • Winterised
  • Auto levelling feet
  • Fixed bed, island
  • as much kitchen worktop and storage as we can get
Our final choice will be likely to have:
  • an oven and grill
  • a modicum of seating - one sofa would be good but we don't need two or any armchairs
  • a minimum of soft furnishings
Ideally it will:
  • have a sizeable "garage" but we'll settle for lots of roomy external lockers
  • have hard floorings not carpet
  • be sensible colours that don't show dirt, not white or cream
  • sport a minimum of mirrors - no mirrored locker doors for instance
  • an absence of televisions. THREE is just STUPID
Extra Points for:
  • table between front seats when turned round
  • a good sound system
  • central vacuum cleaning system - yes, really, I've seen one!


Categories: Choosing Our Home, Full-timing

Tags: rv

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